Yoga i-D Blog

So after one of the most incredibly busy times of this year, followed by one of the most relaxing days of this year... I feel completely transformed and I ask myself how it that possible? Is this a discussion around balance, does this have something to do with my energy levels or is it that the space that has been on offer to me from outside of my normal day to day rhythms of the past year has been so different, once more.

As usual when you are receptive to receiving, there comes the contradictions of life that you never thought possible, possibly not the answers, but after reflecting upon myself and witnessing just that - me. I became acutely aware today, once again, of the most beautiful thing on offer to me, on offer to you... the journey of life. And guess what - as I was reminded of last night, as I sat outside to eat dinner with friends - these answers, this journey.... it is all for free!!!

You can imagine yourself in any scenario you choose to right now, picture yourself there, act it out if you can and through the power of doing so you can help to make sense of what is going on with yourself, your little thing you know as your own life and don't forget, just imagining is FREE.... so explore this for a moment - picture anything, ask yourself for the answers and just sit with how that feels and what comes back at ya. I tried out a couple of scenarios myself last night, attempting to speak them aloud to a friend in fact and wow - it was powerful stuff to just imagine, say a few things aloud that you wish to manifest and literally feel the sensations of how that feels, witness the ability or lack of it to do just that.

I have had so many folk comment, whilst I have been busying away here in London the past few weeks, about my energy and the abundance of it. I have felt the gravitational pulls from the power, of what I can only guess, of being positive and an open person. I have witnessed the dramatic effects you may have on your personal energy and what is sustainable, when you put the two and two together, you stay radiant and you take care of you and the rest comes flooding in - projected right back at you.

Now what's happening in the brain, is the question? What is happening within the body?

So... In this months copy of The New Scientist (my new love) there is a great article entitled 'We can sense our invisible force field' It dicusses the research carried out on monkeys by Michael Graziano at Princeton University, that found that some neurons in monkeys brains fired not only when an object touched the body, but also when the object came near it. Upon stimulating these neurons they found that monkeys would reflexively move their heads and limbs, as if defending themselves. Known as Peripersonal Space... there is evidence that certain regions of the human brain deal specifically with this too! Scientists have carried out experiments in humans, tricking them in to thinking they have been touched and the outcome of humans describing what occurred was like feeling a 'magnetic forcefield', as if encountering an invisible barrier.

So this phenomenon of energy and force fields, oras, or whatever you wish to call it, is being recognised in science and you have felt it too at some stage, right? The unexplainable pull/ push that occurs...

So when folk talk about my energy, maybe there is something happening that the eye can not see, maybe we have this field around us that radiates what we are giving out and others magnetise to the positive vibes and its not just ethereal but real chemistry! Hmm...

This led me on to reading another great article today in Flow (another wonderful magazine) all about balance. What I have always been a great believer of is this idea of gaining work/ life balance and how important that is for the benefit of all. But as usual (and as it should be) this idea was challenged today and thank goodness, as I honesty have never quite grasped what is actually happening when I think I feel in 'balance'.... as it's mostly when I am totally out of balance in so many ways that this idea of work/ life is synchronised the most. How is that possible?

Well... We could describe it as occurring when we are living in 'A mythical land of plenty' (because that sounds most poetic).

BUT... in essence we are all worker bees. We seek out new challenges and we feel the need to upset the applecart sometimes. Our head becomes busting with new ideas and the calm feels broken. The balance is upset. We then begin to demonise upheaval, as we freak out and feel the need to regain rest and 'balance' - the ultimate ideal state of being right - ????

Is it?????

I love the image of the carrot dangling in front of us to keep us moving - we all need it... yours might be a slab of chocolate - but it's something there in front of you that you are striving for. Something that is attainable but challenging. This can create stress. AAAAAAAAaaaaa STRESS! The word feared my most these days, with negative connotations. BUT... what if you turned it on its head and you began to think of it as positive.

Stay with me.

Work, obligations...

we WANT to matter

we WANT to develop

we WANT to express ourselves

we WANT to be something

we WANT to contribute to the world.

So what's happening in these moments. We come back to that invisible force. This time, being pushed back and forth between two opposing forces.

- The desire for a 'balanced life'

+ A need for excitement and disruption.

So what about this... EMBRACE IT! How is that as a word? 'EMBRACE'

How does that word feel? Better than STRESS?>

So how about you embrace a certain amount of upheaval in your daily life??>? '

'Because sometimes having a pounding heart gives you the energy you need'.

Avoiding stress excludes things that gives life meaning. In flow, it even goes as far as saying that stress is a kind of 'engagement with life'.

Marian Joel, Neuroscience Professor, emphasises that 'control' is the key!

"as long as you have control over yourself in your environment, you can take a lot as a human being... Busy times make everything more memorable and, most importantly, they add colour to your life".

It could be said that 'balance' is the wish to lead a meaningful life, a life that gives all our passions free reign. A life full of amazing moments and great challenges, loving what we do. By definition, never perfectly in balance. Alain de Botton tweeted "There is no such thing as a work - life balance. Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life"......

A lesson to learn..... so blow out all the candles! LEARN IT QUICK.

So do you know what we are going to do this week...

We are going to hum, turn upside down, test our balance, open up and restore. Focus on being receptive to the energy forcefield that you have around you and spend some time connecting with that - stress, embrace, control, balance, energy, your neurons..... it all makes up who we are and what life is.

Heres some lyrics for you...

We both know i'll never be your lover - ill only bring the heat... company undercover... filling space in your sheets. So please just blow out all the candles - its just a young heart confusing my mind. Like we are in a crime scene.